Book: Secrets of the Vine

I recently finished Bruce Wilkinson's "Secrets of the Vine." Normally I don't pop-Christianity books, but a friend gave me this book a while back, so I wanted to read it. I suppose I would say this book is ok; there's nothing really wrong with it, but I don't perceive it to be an amazingly helpful book, its popularity notwithstanding. I suppose if I knew a new believer who was beginning to be lulled into thinking that Christianity is a religion, that it is all about doing certain things to win favor with God, then I might recommend the book to him as a reminder that Christianity is a relationship, a relationship with Jesus. The secrets of the book are, of course, not secrets, as the author himself notes; rather, they are principles for living the Christian life. If I have an objection to the book, it would the sensationalistic writing style. From the back cover: "Do you want to experience the joy of making maximum impact for God?...You'll learn three surprising secrets that will open your eyes to your unrealized potential in Him." Not really my style. Like I said, the book is ok.

Inductive Bible Study: Jude 1-2

When it comes to personal Bible study, I'm convinced there's no better method than the inductive Bible study method. It saturates you in the text and lets the text speak for itself. To this end, I have previously created inductive Bible study tutorials, which I have posted on the tutorials page of our web site. Many people, however, learn best by example, so Ann and I are in the process of supplementing the tutorial by posting the results of our own inductive Bible study using the book of Jude. First you read how to study in the tutorial, and then see what it actually looks like. We hope you find this helpful; you can see our work on the tutorials page.

Be fluid

Fluid is a simple application for the Mac that takes a web site and makes it appear to be a standalone application. It allows me to take my favorite web apps, such as GMail and Blogger, and add an icon for them in the icon bar and run them without first opening my web browser. Give fluid a try.

However, to get the most out of Fluid you need to utilize one important preference. Go to preferences, click advanced, and check "allow browsing to any URL." Many of the web apps I use require me to login. If you don't allow Fluid to go to a different URL, some apps will switch to a web browser to login, which defeats the whole purpose.

Book: Bradley

Bradley, by Alan Axelrod, is about Omar Bradley, a 5-star general and one of the top American commanders involved in liberating Europe during WW2. The book is a good read. It's style is pretty relaxed and lightweight (<200 pages), not bogging the reader down with too many details. If you're a history or military buff, this will be a quick read. Most of the book (naturally) focuses on Bradley's various military assignments, though there is some information on his personal life. The most interesting part for me was his interaction with other top military generals; I was surprised to read how often Eisenhower, Patton, Montgomery, and Bradley disagreed with each other and even disrespected and disobeyed each other. I recommend this biography.

Photo: Getting ready for the garage sale

We had a big garage sale set for today, and everyone chipped in to help. Jacen and I spent some time cutting wood for the garage sale signs.

The only place we advertised was on Craigslist. I was shocked at how many people came out! We had a steady stream all morning long. In fact, we sold more than half our stuff, including the lava lamp! We had a great time.

Photos: Emmy has glasses

A few weeks back Ann took Emmy to the eye doctor and found out (much to our surprise) that she needed glasses. So we got a pair, and I finally got around to taking a few close-ups of Emmy so you can see her new look.

Book: David Crockett - Hero of the Common Man

As the name suggests, this book is a biography of Davy Crockett. The book is a light read; the pace moves quickly, and I finished it in a few hours. It was a good book, very enjoyable. Skip the introduction, as the author gives away the ending of the book. I recommend this book to you.

Book: Don't Make Me Count To Three

"Don't Make Me Count To Three" by Ginger Plowman takes the principles of "Shepherding a Child's Heart" and makes them even more accessible. She does a great job of helping parent's work on their children's hearts while employing Scripture and providing training. I like this book more than "Shepherding" and would probably use it in any class I teach on parenting children. I highly recommend this book, particularly for children 6-12 years old.

Photos: Playing at the playround

There's no place like a playground for taking pictures of kids, both young and old. After getting dinner and watching the train last Friday, we stopped by the playground near the seminary to play for a bit.

Photos: On the Train Tracks

We went back up to Wake Forest for dinner on Friday night. Just as I took out the camera to take a few pictures, a train came through town. So I took some shots around the tracks.

Photos: North Hills Mall

Ann had a gift card to Penny's, so we went down to North Hills Mall to do a little shopping. It's an outdoor mall with plenty of water fountains and a small area for the kids to run around. I took the camera along and got a few pictures of the family.

Fireworks

Reading is good for you. And sometimes it gets you free tickets to a soccer game. Ann took the kids to our local library on Monday, and they were giving out tickets to the Carolina Railhawks, a local USL soccer club. So we drove Thursday night down near Cary NC and watched them play to a 2-2 tie. Not a bad game. Certainly a cozy little stadium. And the fireworks afterward weren't too bad.

On the fourth we went to Zebulon NC to watch the Carolina Mudcats, a double A team affiliated with the Florida Marlins, play a little baseball. It was a solid game, and the Cats crushed the opposition 6-0 on the strength of three homers. The fireworks after the game we even better. You can find more pictures on our Flickr site.

Photos: Historic Oak View County Park

We took Monday off for another Garriss family day. We went to the Historic Oak View County Park on the east side of Raleigh, NC. It's a restored cotton farm, complete with cotton, goats, and a fruit orchard. We enjoyed learning about life a hundred years ago, but the most fun was had by Emmy as she fed the goats. Enjoy the pictures.

Commentary on Genesis: Chapters 48 and 49

Our church is writing our own curriculum for teaching in the ABF classes, and I was asked to help write a handful of the lessons. I've recently finished the last two, Genesis 48 and 49, and added them to the OT section of our family website. I realize my studies in Genesis are incomplete, but these were the texts I was given. Maybe some day I'll come back and fill in the gaps.

Photos: Yates Mill

Thursday was family day. We drove south of Raleigh to Yates Mill, a restored corn mill. They have done a superb job turning it into a state park, where you can see the mill, walk around the mill pond, hike through the park, and explore their small museum. We had a picnic on the grounds, and there were boatloads of butterflies to photograph.

We also swung by nearby Lake Wheeler and found a couple geocaches.